Chapter 9 - GWEN’S DEFENSE
Gwen’s defense was elegance.
She did not deny everything.
That would have been foolish.
She admitted frustration.
Admitted fear about financial security.
Admitted speaking emotionally.
She claimed the recording was incomplete.
She claimed Chloe misunderstood.
She claimed I had become susceptible to manipulation by my children.
That last accusation nearly worked on me.
Not legally.
Emotionally.
Because part of me still feared becoming the old man everyone managed.
Then Samuel asked me something privately.
“Do you know why Gwen’s argument feels familiar?”
“Because it’s possible?”
“No.”
He leaned forward.
“Because she trained you to interpret disagreement as humiliation.”
I sat with that for a long time.
Elise disagreed with me and still wanted me safe.
Gwen agreed with me when agreement gave her access.
Those were not the same thing.
Investigators eventually connected Gwen and Cross to several financial moves already attempted.
Nothing as simple as stealing a ring from a drawer.
Instead, there were proposed transfers, drafted beneficiary changes, advisory permissions, and medical language prepared for future use.
A scaffolding.
Not the crime people imagine.
The architecture around one.
The glass of water remained part of the investigation, handled by professionals.
I never speculated publicly about what was in it.
I did not need to.
The stronger evidence was the conversation, the timing, the pressure around the will, and Gwen’s own words.
She wanted me gone before Monday.
Whether gone meant dead, incapacitated, or legally stripped of control, the direction was clear enough.
Gwen requested one meeting with me.
Samuel advised against it.
I agreed.
But only with lawyers present.
She arrived in black.
Beautiful.
Pale.
Wronged.
“Franklin,” she said softly, “you know I loved you.”
I looked at her.
“I know you loved what I gave you.”
Her eyes filled.
“You don’t mean that.”
“I wish I didn’t.”
She leaned forward.
“I was scared.”
“So was Chloe.”
That stopped her.
Good.
“So was I.”
May you like
She had no answer for that.
People like Gwen expect fear to belong only to them when consequences arrive.
